1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automated systems for handling communication services.
2. Description of the Related Art
Historically, telecommunications was controlled by a small set of carriers, who are referable as Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs). The ILECs had monopolized the telecommunications market to an extent that end customers effectively had little choice but to pay whatever rates the ILECs chose to charge. In this environment, enterprises (e.g., business entities and campuses) began to lease a set of lines from an ILEC and use a private branch exchange (PBX) to perform local switching from the leased lines to dedicated lines connecting enterprise clients. Early PBXs (pre-1990), only permitted PBX's to connect to ILECs as end-users. Thus, customers were still forced to pay whatever line leasing rates the ILECs chose to charge.
In the early 1990's a few large cities, New York City being the first, enacted legislation that allowed ILEC teleport switches to connect as peers. This spawned local exchange competition and a creation of competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). The telecommunication act of 1996 permitted national level competition for CLECs, which evolved into Competitive Access Carriers (CAPs). CLECs and CAPs began establishing their own lines connecting major hubs that minimized their leasing costs from ILECs.
Over time, convergence of technologies in the telecommunication space permitted communication sessions to be established using a variety of non-traditional infrastructure resources. For example, IP based communications permit voice channel communications using cable television resources, wireless resources, and the like. Traditional resources used for cable and satellite television, wireless telephony, and internet servers now merged with telecommunication resources so that any of these infrastructures can provide competing end-products. Legislation permitting cross-competition has ensured that an infrastructure owner is no longer siloed into providing only one type of service.
It is in this diverse environment that carrier service resellers or distributors emerged. Carrier resellers established contracts with one or more ILECs and CLECs. The distributors then packaged resources in a consumable form to enterprises, usually for a commission. Federal regulations and carrier requirements make it difficult for distributors to contract with multiple carriers, as each carrier generally requires minimum quantities that are difficult for diversified distributors to satisfy. Further, most carriers maintain identifying information visible to enterprises, so that when a lucrative enterprise exists for a distributor, it is relatively easy to circumvent the “middleman” distributor. Further, when a distributor becomes too dependent upon any particular carrier, that carrier is able to change its rates or contract specifics to the detriment of the distributor.
One very important element for telecom distributors and enterprises is the underlying management software infrastructure for telecom services. That is, an enterprise or end-user contracting with distributors must be billed for contracted services. This billing must be broken down in accordance with a contract and enterprises typically want a per-user, per-call break down of usages. End-users (e.g., enterprises) typically want a single, easy to understand bill, which can become difficult for a distributor to provide, when services are provided to the end-user from multiple carriers. Many other, currently manpower intensive, tasks are required of the telecom distributor, such as contract establishment and management, provisioning monitoring for new orders, managing costs verses profit, and the like. No software infrastructure exists to handle these aspects of the telecom procurement and utilization process.
A current state of the art is pictorially illustrated by FIG. 1 (Prior Art). More specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates a scenario 100 for traditionally reselling telecommunication products. The scenario is a multi-step (110, 120, 130, 140, and 150) one involving numerous interpersonal interactions with a diverse set of factors.
Step 1 is a step 110 to establish a reselling capability. In this step, a reseller 102 can interact with one or more carriers 104 to become an authorized reselling agent for that carrier 104. This involves the reseller 102 providing numerous requirements, certifications, and meeting sales thresholds, in return for being able to market carrier 104 services for a commission. The rate of the commission being typically fixed by the carrier 104. For each new carrier 104 that the reseller 102 wishes to represent to potential customers, this process 116 must be repeated. Overhead involved in this process is a natural limiter on a number of carriers 104, which a reseller 102 can reasonably represent. The reseller 102 is also formed to maintain 118 a set of carrier required reports, government certifications, and minimum thresholds with each carrier 104, which can vary by carrier 104 established rules.
Once a reseller 102 has established an ability to resell carrier provided communication services, the reseller 102 must solicit 120 a set of customers 120, which are typically relatively large business enterprises 106. The reseller 102 must analyze the needs of each enterprise 106 and develop one or more packaged solutions to meet these needs. An enterprise 106 can select one of these solutions, which is optionally customized by the reseller 102. Each different enterprise 106 requires similar handling 122, which consumes a substantial amount of reseller 102 time. The reseller 102 faces challenges 124 of adapting solutions to handle changing needs of the enterprises 106 it serves, of adapting solutions as details of the carrier's 104 service packages change, and to generally manage relationships with multiple enterprise 106 agents.
Upon reaching tentative agreements, a contract stage 130 begins, where a reseller 102 has to establish contracts between enterprises 106, and the carriers 104 that provide the communication services. These contracts 130 can also involve coordination with installation teams 101, hardware venders 103, and different attorneys 107 representing any of the involved parties 101-106. The contracting stage 130 has challenges 132 of contracting costs, coordination costs, and timeline management.
Once contracts are established, a provisioning/installation 140 stage follows. Here, the reseller 102 coordinates with the enterprises 106, the carriers 104, the installation teams 101, and/or hardware venders 103 to insure contract terms are satisfied and the desired services are provided to the enterprise customers in a timely fashion. The general challenges 142 of expectation management, coordination management, and resolving problems among parties 101-106 occur in the provisioning stage 140.
After installation, enterprises 150 receive the services from the carriers 104 for which they contracted. The reseller must ensure that the enterprises 106 receive usage reports and bills and make the appropriate payments. The usage information and base bills come from the carrier 104 who the reseller 102 may pay after receiving compensation from the enterprise 106 or whom the enterprise 106 may pay directly. Direct interactions between enterprises 106 and carriers 104 are dangerous to the reseller 102, as he/she can be circumvented easily in that situation. The reseller 102 is often forced to consolidate bills from multiple different carriers 104 and to format them into a single bill for the service receiving enterprises 106. The reseller 102 can often attempt to brand the reports/bills with his/her own label at this time. This process, however, is challenging 152 due to administrative expenses to continuously consolidate bills, transcription errors, and administrative delays. Looking at the conventional communication reselling scenario 100, it is easy to see that control is largely maintained by the carriers 104 and that resellers 102 are precariously positioned. Further, options available to enterprise 106 customers are limited and largely dictated by dominant carriers 104.